Agency Reaches Settlement for Sutton Brook Disposal Area

Dec 28, 2009

A new settlement estimated worth more than $30 million will ensure that cleanup of the Sutton Brook Disposal Area Superfund Site in Tewksbury, Mass. will move forward, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection announced on Dec. 22.

The agreement, lodged in federal court in Boston, resolves federal and state liability claims against 49 potentially responsible parties for the cleanup of the site.

Under the settlement, 20 of the parties will be responsible for implementation of the remedy selected by EPA in 2007. These parties will also pay for the state’s past response costs, oversight costs incurred by EPA and MassDEP, as well as $1.65 million to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state for natural resource damages claims stemming from injuries to groundwater and wetlands. The remaining settling parties are required to make payments to two trusts to be used to perform the cleanup at the site and to pay for response costs.

The selected remedy includes excavation and consolidation of contaminated soils and sediments, construction of a multi-layered impermeable cap, capture and treatment of contaminated groundwater, institutional controls and long term monitoring. The total estimated cost for the selected remedy is estimated to be $29.9 million.

The site, also known as Rocco’s Landfill, is located on South Street in Tewksbury, Mass. It contains two major source areas: a 40-acre landfill, which includes a northern lobe and a southern lobe, and an area of contaminated soils adjacent to the northern lobe. The site was listed on EPA National Priorities List in 2001. From about 1957 to 1988, the landfill accepted municipal, commercial, and industrial wastes from both inside and outside of Tewksbury, including unknown quantities of hazardous substances.

The consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. A copy of the consent decree is available on the Justice Department Web site at www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.